How to Make Rainbow Turkey Art for Kids
Here is a precious little board book that will stand out in your Thanksgiving collection of picture books. After I saw Five Little Thank-Yous by Cindy Jin, I wanted to create a fresh take on a turkey art project with my girls that could be done in one quick session and work for multiple age groups (2-4)… plus we used glitter paint, so it literally sparkles. 🙂 We use a lot of glitter paint around here.
VIDEO
THE BOOK
Like I mentioned before, Five Little Thank Yous by Cindy Jin is a short and sweet little board book that brightened up our library immediately. The illustrations are just precious and the text is simple and to the point reinforcing gratitude for things in our life that children probably don’t think to really be grateful for (an idea I’m really working on with my 4 year old). You could even tie in basic counting skills with this little book. A new seasonal fav for us! And can you see how it just screams for colorful turkey art?
I thought the ending was so sweet. It prompted us to talk not only about gratitude, but also what makes my daughters so special. I loved this.
PREP
- 12″ x 18″ white paper
- 12″ x 18″ colored paper for background (we used purple and pink)
- 9″ x 12″ brown paper
- Pencil
- Scraps of yellow, pink and red
- Googly eyes
- Black crayon
- Scissors
- Glue
- Glitter (or liquid tempera) paint in red, orange, yellow, green & blue
- Circle sponge brush (or cut up kitchen sponge)
- Q-tip
*Since I was doing this project with a 2 year old and 4 year old and I wanted it to be done in one session, I prepped the shapes ahead of time, so all the girls had to do was to paint and glue. The shapes I made were the head, body, beak, wattle, cheeks and tail feathers. If you want your child to practice cutting, they can help you trace and cut the shapes. Refer to video for how I prepped the shapes.
CREATE
- Have turkey shapes pre cut and ready to go.
- Set aside head, body, beak, wattle, eyes & cheeks.
- Divide the tail feathers shape into 5 separate sections with pencil to help the child see where to paint. *If doing this project with kids 3 and under, skip this step.
4. Using the circle sponge brush, dip into the yellow paint FIRST. Paint the yellow section. Repeat with read and orange. You don’t have to wash the paint off the brush for these warm colors. But you will want to before using the green and blue to keep the colors from getting muddy.
5. Glue the body and head to the tail feathers. Add the eyes, beak, wattle and cheeks. Use a q-tip to add some red dots on the cheek.
6. Draw wavy lines on the body with black crayon for more feathers.
7. Glue to your choice of background.
Boy, did these colorful sparkly turkeys brighten up our kitchen art wall…
If you enjoyed this book and/or story time art, please tag us on Instagram: @picturebooksandpeonies or #picturebooksandpeonies or leave a comment below. We’d love to hear from you!
